amiranda-39274 I probably first saw this movie when i was 8 years old ( yes it probably did scar me, and gave me a little OCD !), but it taught me about the dangers of germs. Ive probably re watched this movie at least once a year ever since, also it seems every biology class i was ever in, including my current microbiology class considers this movie the go to disease movie, also this movie is the first thing i think of when the word virus is ever used in a conversation. Despite my nostalgia for this movie ( even the cover of this film is nostalgic to me), i will give a fair review. First i want to talk about Wolfgang Petersen's phenomenal filming, it just feels so grand, also there is just something about the way 90's movie cameras filmed that just feels so likeable, and more attractive then modern day movies. i love how the movie opens at a CDC center, showing each level of disease control. The movie then takes you to a village in Zaire, Africa, where the fictional "Motabu" virus ( that can only be spread through contact) has killed an entire village, the way its filmed and the music just makes it so suspenseful when being in the presence of a 100% mortality rate virus, and then it shows a shot of the real star of the entire movie, the Capuchin monkey that is the host of the virus. the movie follows this monkey, from when it is captured, put on a Chinese ship that goes to America, to a animal testing facility, to a pet store in a small town named cedar creek, i think they really displayed how a animal with a contagious virus, could easily be transported across the world to the most unlikely of places. Of course this scene leads to every human that comes in contact with the monkey getting infected, and now that I'm older i think its kind of idiotic. The first person to have contact with the infected monkey is a animal smuggler named jimbo who is played by Patrick Dempsey( My sisters are Greys anatomy fans and they freaked out when they realized its the same guy), jimbo tries to sell the monkey to a pet store owner, but the monkey scratches him and he doesn't want it, so jimbo decides to let the infected monkey free into the woods ( this scene was actually very touching and felt like a different movie!) On a plane to Boston, Jimbo starts showing symptoms of the disease, but besides getting his girlfriend infected by making out, no one else seems to get sick. However in cedar creek, the pet store owner gets sick and at the hospital a idiot blood analyst gets his blood all over himself, and decides to go to a movie theater that same night where he coughs over everyone spreading the disease ( this scene has made me paranoid of everyone coughing or sneezing in the movie theater, that i always cover my mouth on instinct!). This leads to the eventful outbreak, and the military comes in to create a quarantine. of course this doesn't make the citizens too happy, and some actually try to drive out of town but get shot by helicopters, i always saw these people as selfish, but now i can relate with their panic. Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Kevin spacey and Cuba gooding Jr. soon discover that the virus has mutated and become AIRBORNE! and can now be spread like the flu, they soon realize in order to save the remaining survivors they must find the host, in order to get its antibodies and make a cure. meanwhile Donald Sutherland and Morgan Freeman reveal they have had the cure for the original virus, but have covered it up, because the military have been using this particular virus as a biological weapon and decide they want to firebomb the entire town to prevent the spread. The tension really increases when more people become infected, including Kevin spacey who ripped his suit, and Rene Russo who gets pricked with a needle! And when the imminent bombing is discovered, Dustin Hoffman and Cuba have to find the host fast. The ending is mostly helicopter action, but the tension is still very present, and the speed it took to find the host and create a cure from it, is very improbable, but it is awesome. The music in this movie makes every action scene more grand, and every scene involving the virus, feel like a horror movie. Despite the very morbid theme of this movie, there is carefully placed humor, that keeps this movie from going too dark but does not disrupt the tension of the movie. The acting in this movie is amazing, the main leads are each given a moment to shine, and every single one of the extras gives a great performance ( The mother of the little girl whose friends with the monkey, give a great shocked face every time). And the monkey is my favorite character, it just so wonderful to watch it, even though it is just an animal, you cant help but feel it is the villain of this movie, in fact the virus feels like it is sentient and purposefully getting people sick. This movie is great and i hope more people watch it, maybe its scientifically inaccurate and maybe a little melodramatic, but it is still a incredible movie about the true horrors of disease. As Donald Sutherland said " You have never seen anything like this before"

classicalsteve Hollywood does have issues about making films like "Outbreak". While the opening scenes to establish the premise are generally good, sometimes endings become a bit too predictable where the heroes put the baddies in their place. A few moments in the last third of the film also become a bit unbelievable especially in terms of how information is tracked and interpreted by the US government. Still overall, I would still rank it as one of the better films of its type.In the late 1960's, an outbreak of a terrible virus which turns innards into cream of wheat infects native villagers along with some American soldiers in Zaire, currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the middle of Africa. American officials who work for the Center for Disease Control assess the situation. One of the voices in the suits is Donald Sutherland, playing Major General Donald "Donnie" McClintock. To contain the village and prevent further spread, the US government deploys an extreme method to suppress the virus.Fast-forward to the mid-1990's. Again in Zaire, another village has also been wiped out by a virus, strangely similar to the one 30 years earlier. Colonel Sam Daniels (Dustin Hoffman), Lieutenant Colonel Casey Schuler (Kevin Spacey) and Major Salt (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) investigate what General McClintock saw there decades ago. There are no survivors except some children. During the investigation, Salt practically loses his lunch. After they leave, a small monkey is shown being captured by a trapper on the outskirts of the village. It looks like either a rhesus Old World monkey or a white-headed capuchin, a New World monkey. Neither are indigenous to Africa, but we run with it. (Rhesus monkeys reside in Asia, and white-headed capuchins reside in Central and South America.)Back in the good old US, we had learned in an earlier somewhat melodramatic scene that Daniels had been married to one of his colleagues at the Center for Disease Control, Roberta "Robby" Keough (Rene Russo), before the recent misadventure in the Congo. Daniels desires to further investigate the virus, which appears to be unknown. However, he is stopped by his supervisor Brigadier General Billy Ford (Morgan Freeman) seemingly for illogical reasons. Turns out, Ford and McClintock made a pact to keep the knowledge about the virus and the government's "solution" a secret since the 1960's. Daniels looking into the matter might blow their cover.On another front, the monkey ends up in a facility in San Jose, CA, via an international trading ship. A young man "Jimbo" (Patrick Dempsey) bribes some security guards to take the monkey to a pet shop. He delivers the goods, but the shop owner is disappointed: he needed a male, not a female. Jimbo decides to let the monkey go in the redwoods somewhere between San Jose and San Francisco. He then flies back to Boston, and on the flight he becomes ill and nearly infects a younger passenger. In less than two days, Jimbo, his girlfriend, the pet shop owner and members of the town of Cedar Creek, CA, are infected with the virus.Robby learns of the epidemic and quickly flies from D.C. to Boston to examine the victims. It rings strangely of the virus Daniels had been researching. A growing epidemic is occurring in the small California town, apparently a carrier had infected people at the local movie theatre. Now the epidemic is growing, and the government quarantines the whole town. All the while, Ford and McClintock are trying to engage in damage control to prevent the others higher-ups in the US government, and ultimately the press and the public from finding out about what happened in Zaire in the 1960's.The strongest elements of the film are the behind-the-politics about the decision-making concerning the response to the virus. This aspect carries much of the film and makes it more interesting than a straight action-disaster film, somewhat similar to Jaws in which the mayor continually fights the head of police concerning the appropriate response. The ending was a little bit weak in terms of how the good guys finally stop the baddies, meaning the people, not the virus. I think I would have liked to have seen more of a conclusion about the original events in the 1960's as a way to wrap up the story.Generally, a good popcorn film. Kevin Spacey, as usual, delivers a fantastic performance as one of the researchers in the Center for Disease Control. Dustin Hoffman is good as the intelligent but somewhat hot-headed higher-up researcher as is Russo's performance as the more level-headed of the two. We get pieces of their backstory which sort of works. Freeman and Sutherland deliver strong supporting performances as the behind-the-scenes amoral officers bent on keeping the full truth under wraps. Maybe a one-watch, but considering how many marginal films are made every year, it's a decent one-watch.

juneebuggy I'm a big fan of disaster movies, this one is a classic mostly due to the outstanding cast attached (Donald Sutherland, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo, Cuba Gooding Jr.) and an (almost) realistic story.It's a decent movie for the most part although does get a bit hokey and over the top where the government conspiracy angle is concerned. I enjoyed the virus story a lot: how it spreads, finding the host, tracing the origin. The movie theatre scene with the man coughing is scary, as we watch the little microbes float through the air infecting the entire audience. I've thought about that scene many times over the years. Patrick Dempsy was a surprise here, playing Jimbo the young grunge dude who steals the monkey.The cast is fantastic with Hoffman as the lead expert on contagious diseases trying to stamp out a killer virus in a small California town. Russo plays his soon to be ex-wife and Spacey and Gooding both work under him. Hoffman does pretty well as the action hero, his scenes with Cuba and are good as they steal a helicopter and they're on the run, good chemistry. Morgan Freeman is a General caught in the middle, trying to cover up the fact that he and Donald Sutherland bombed the hell out of an African village in the 60's to halt the same disease.Sutherland's character becomes too much, almost comical towards the end in his sublime efforts to stop Hoffman from finding out the truth and to complete his (personal) mission of eradicating the infected town. This was too much. Still a good movie, scary and for the most part well done.8/23/15

g-bodyl Outbreak is a very good, intense movie on what would happen if a virus were to go rampant. This movie connects well because of recent world news concerning the Ebola virus and in that regard, the film is downright scary. One thing the film did was make sure I develop some healthy habits. That being said, this a fast-paced movie that has an incredible cast and a story that is well-written. My only qualm about the movie is the helicopter chases near the end, as I don't believe they fit the overall story arch.Wolfgang Petersen's film is about how a fictional disease from Zaire called the Motaba runs rampant in a small California village. Now Colonel Sam Daniels and his CDC helpers must contain the virus before the virus spreads beyond the town's border.As mentioned before, the film has a very talented cast. It's surprising how many Oscar-winners are in the cast. Dustin Hoffman does very well as Sam Daniels and the man who wants to save the lives of the sick. Rene Russo likewise does a good job as Sam's estranged wife and co-worker. Morgan Freeman is excellent as Sam's boss, the man who is stuck in the middle. We also get great supporting turns from Kevin Spacey and the villainous Donald Sutherland.Overall, Outbreak is an excellent movie that raises the question "what if?" If any town gets an outbreak of a deadly virus, would the government and the military take the same course of action as they did in this film? No matter which way you look at it, it's a very scary thought. The film, along with 2011's Contagion, are two worthy films to watch if you want to be scared the unconventional way. Because trust me, this film is scary because it could very well happen in reality. As for filmmaking, this is a very intense, well-made film. I rate this film 9/10.